The Sole Survivor
by Icee The Hedgehog
Summary: After being declared the sole survivor of his AU, UnderSwap!Sans is thrust into the Classic world for his safety. There, new people, troubles and drama alike await. His actions here may alter everyone's fates...almost as much as the actions of that little determined human... **UNDERGOING REWRITE! PLEASE READ RECENT CHAPTER FOR DETAILS!**
1. Ch 1: Blueberry

_**Hello everyone and welcome to another fanfic by yours truly, Icee the Hedgehog!**_

_**So I have recently gotten into Undertale and MAJORLY so. There are just so many cool ideas to work with from it, not to mention the various AU crazes that are going on. So, I just had to publish my own Undertale related work.**_

_**While this is not going to take place directly in any AUs, it should be noted that AUs exist and are part of my UT headcanon's background. This fiction aside from my little differences, will mostly follow the canon universe and game, and will likely end up a 3 book series of my take on the Undertale world.**_

_**I hope you all enjoy my little expirimemt here. Feedback is welcome!**_

_**Anyway, enough of my babbling. Enjoy the work!**_

* * *

**_Chapter One: Blueberry_**

"We're here."

The small blue-clad skeleton whimpered as the Creator of all AUs, casually known as Ink, set him down on the floor of the blank void. Normally his feet would barely have hit ground before he would take off running, spewing things about immediately getting back to his puzzles and training but this time the little gaurd in training just sat on the ground like a statue. An orange hoodie was clutched tightly in his small hands. He hasn't let it go since his brother took that fatal blow for him and neither have the tears stopped flowing from his eyesockets.

To think he would end up here. Just a week ago, the little guy's only objective was to capture that human and give them to Alphys so that he could be a member of the Royal Gaurd. So he could finally gain fame, fourtune and most of all have his brother be proud of him. He didn't think that the human would have been killed right in front of him or that his brother would have taken a fatal blow for him. What was worse is that the little guy could not see his attacker. All he saw before running for his life was a streak of black, blue and red and good lord, the blue cables. The way they wrapped around both the human and his brother like snakes constricting their latest catch was something he wouldn't soon forget. Nor could he firget how Alphys, Undyne, even Queen Toriel herself met the same exact fate. How he saw the sky dissintigrating before all went white...

"Th-they're not...they're not coming back...are they...?" the child somehow managed to find his voice, though it wavered. He couldn't sit there and act like a child. They would want him to be brave, right?

Ink looked at the child with multicolored eyes. His left eye shone a bright cyan and his right was a neon yellow star shape. It looked sort of weird to the child. He had never seen such colors on a monster before. However, given his current state of shock, the skeleton could not muster up the will to ask about them, wiping a few stray tears with the bandana around his neck.

It took a few minutes for Ink to respond. Unlike the original universe, Underswap's Sans was the younger of the two brothers and significantly so at that. While he had created Underswap's Papyrus to be an older teenager, Underswap's Sans only about ten years of age. However, he had been given a similar personality as the original Papyrus - the strong ambition of becoming a royal gaurd and the ego to make him want to act older than what he truly was. Ink did not want to frighten the child but it was best he understood his circumstances sooner rather than later...

"...No."

More tears fell down the child's eyes as he heard the answer. He held the hoodie close once again, his tiny body shaking as he struggled not to break down sobbing. Be brave. Alphys would be calling him a weenie for sure if she saw him like this.

"At least...not now." Ink quickly added.

He did not want the child to be too traumatized to go on, potentially on his own. He would not allow another creation of his to be killed. Especially not one that was still a child.

"You mean they're dead?! That glitch thing...he killed them, right?" the child asked. Feeling a sudden wave of determination pulse through his tiny bidy, he stood up, summoning a bone. "Where did he go?! I, the magnificant Sans will-"

"Sit down and listen to what I'm about to say!" Ink said sternly.

He hated having to yell at a child but given the circumstances there was no other choice. He needed to make this guy aware of his situation and that he absolutely cannot go and play hero. Not against a person like...him...

The child silenced himself, though he seemed upset that his speech had been cut short. He held the bone tightly though, still determined to do something about whatever situation he is in. He only knows his people are dead - his _brother _was dead. He had to avenge them, he had to stop whoever did all this!

"You're the _only _one left." Ink told the child sternly as he held his shoulders, lightly pinning him against the wall and forcing him to look at him. Ink's right eye flickered as it became a red triangle. "Your whole universe is gone. Ripped apart. Glitched beyond what I can repair. And you would have ended up just like your friends if I hadn't grabbed you before HE could!"

"He? You mean glitchy guy?" the child asked before mire mire angry tears welled in his eyes. "Why didn't you let me fight him?! I could have saved everyone!"

"You were out cold!" Ink yelled. He cursed the fact the child still wanted to be the hero even though the situatuon was a dire as it was. He cursed the fact he still wanted to throw himself into danger when hed hed barely avoided becoming another toy. "Stop trying to play hero! Do you even understand your situation?! You're a SOLE SURVIVOR!"

A Sole Survivor. A title he had dubbed for the only one remaining in an AU. Ink did not think he would actually have to deal with one, let alone what he should do with one. What to do with a child that had no demension to return to. The Doodleverse here certainly was not safe. Their enemy could just come in here any time...

"Well, that's even more a reason why I should've been able to fight him! The Magnificant Sans would have been able to save everything!"

"You would have only been dusted." Ink told him. "You don't understand who the enemy is, do you?"

"But I don't have to!" the clutched the bone in determination. "The Magnificant Sans always has a winning strategy against any opponent!"

"You would have had no strategy against a GOD!"

"...Huh...?" Ink's comment made the child curious, his wide eyes curious and in disbeleif. A god? An immortal being that no one can hit? Okay, maybe even he couldn't stand a chance against that...

"The person who killed your folks, he is an enemy of mine as well." Ink explained now that he got the child to calm down and actually listen. "His name is Error. He and I have fought for years, though it's always ended in stalemate. He wants to destroy any universe that he doesn't think is acceptable, regardless of who or what is in it. Had I not come when I did, he would have killed you in an instant. He's a glitch, so it's not like you would have been able to hit him, no matter what you tried."

"Oh, so he's a Super Ultra God of Destruction?" the child asked as he put on his heroic sona once more. "That sounds tough, but I can-"

"No, you can't." Ink cut off the child's fantasies. "That's why you're here...but this place won't be safe for you either. He will eventually just break in once he senses you're still around..."

"Then let him! We can fight him together! And who knows? Maybe he can be our friend!"

"You're not anywhere near strong enough." Ink said as an idea came to him. "But I think I can take you somewhere he won't touch."

The original timeline. Error always preserved the original timeline. The original universe, the original cast, the original story. If he placed this child there then he would not be touched, right? Error never appeared in the Classic World, for he felt he would cause abnormalities in an already perfect world. So that meant the child would be safe.

"More weird places...?" the young skeleton looked down, not liking the idea of hopping between unfamiliar places. He truly just wanted to go home. Go back to his puzzles, back to trying to get his brother to help him, back to anxiously awaiting humans to show. But suddenly in hours he had none of that to return to...

"It's not that much different from your own place." Ink said as his right eye became a soft purple as he pat the now scared child's head. "There's a Snowdin there too. And a Sans and a Papyrus, an Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, Asgore...all of the people you once knew. Their roles are different than what you know but they still look like the people you knew."

"There's another me?" the little skeleton's eyes widened eagerly.

"Yes. He is sort of like your brother." Ink continued. "You see, when I created your AU I didn't really have ellaborate designs for it. Your AU was one of the first I made. So everyone is still their original selves. The only difference between your world and the original is that people have different roles. But they all still have the same names, close to the same personalities..."

"A...U...?"

Right. Ink should've known that the child wouldn't understand multiverse termanology. Most of his AU creations did not even know other universes existed. Now, a few of the Sanses did know of alernate timelines but none fully knew just how many AUs Ink has created. How many stories were unfolding at the same time alongside the Classic line...

"Alternate Universes - other universes existing alongside yours with different people and places and stories." Ink explained it as simply as he could. "Kind of...like other planets in space, you know? You can't see what's going on there, yet they are there and anyone out there is living their own life and story."

"I kind of get it...so...you made those? So...aren't you a god too?" the child questioned.

"I guess if having the ability to create many different realities and people to go in them makes someone a god, then yeah." Ink nodded lightly.

The child's face lit up with glee

"So if you're a god and that glitchy guy is a god, then wouldnt you two be on equal ground in a fight? If I help you fight him, maybe-"

Ink sighed. This child wouldn't give up. He doesn't understand just what Error's power is. Just why he can't combat him easily.

He probably never would understand either...

Just as Ink was opening his mouth to say something else to the child, black cracks began to appear in the white colored sky. Suddenly, a series of black, red, blue and yellow glitches began to peek out from said cracks. Ink pushed the child back, standing in front of him protectively, paintbrush at the ready.

**_*DiD yOu tHiNk YoU cOuLd hIdE tHaT gLiTcH iN hErE?! YoU rEaLlY aRe An IdIoT, InK!_**

Ink knew that glitched telepathy. It was the only way they could speak. Ink knew they could not talk normally. They were too glitched for that. Even telepathy was disorted and riddles with random glitches in the pitch and tone.

"Error..."

The cracks open as the glitches form themselves into a glitched out skeleton. He was mostly black, although his arms and legs were red colored and the tips of his fingers were gold. What really creeped the child out were the blue cables near his eyes that made it seem like he was crying. Even the red-rimmed glasses her wore couldn't hide them.

_***CoMe NoW, InK. YoU kNoW I aM jUsT pReSeRvInG tHe OrIgInAl TiMeLiNe. JuSt LeT mE hAvE tHe GlItCh AnD nO vIoLeNcE wIlL bE nEeDeD.**_

"You killed my brother!" the child yelled, starting to charge at Error, only for Ink to hold him back.

"Sorry, wanted to talk for longer before I did this but I can't!" Ink told him. "I'm sending you off now!"

"N-no! I have to-! My brother!"

The child's yelling got Error's attention. He chuckles as his form glitches a bit.

_***Go AhEaD. CoMe At Me, YoU lItTlE rUnT. YoUr BrOtHeR mIsSeS yOu!**_

A pinging sound is heard as the child yelps, his SOUL becoming exposed. The marks on Error's face glowed as they extended into blue, thread like cables that he fired, straight at the child's SOUL.

"I won't allow it!"

The child opened his eyes, expecting to have had his SOUL ensnared in the cables. But what he saw now before him was enough to make any drive to fight off Error become replaced with fear. His eyes widened.

The cables were now wrapped around Ink's body, ensnaring him in Error's grasp. His arms, legs, even his neck were caught in the string. Ink coughed, breathing being cut off by the tight grip of the cables.

***WeLl wElL wElL...tHiS wAsN't WhAt I eXpEcTeD..**

"I won't let you kill any more of my children, Error. Even if it means it coming to this..." Ink got out.

Ink barely manages to get his arm free, a portal appearing behind them as he looked at the still frozen child. Ink's right eye is now a blue raindrop, though they look a lottle dim. Were the cables some sort of life force drainer as well?

"R-Run...go through the portal...the people there will help you." Ink urged the child on. "If I don't pull through, then I will leave things in your hands. Your AU may be gone, but I know you'll be able to defeat Error with the help of the people who are through that portal..."

"N-no! I'm not going with you like this!" the child yelled, starting to cry again.

This was just like what happened to his brother. Ink took a hit that HE should have taken. Now that one hit might cause his demise and once again he was being forced to do nothing but run and hide. Run and hide like a coward - Alphys would certainly be calling him a weenie right now if she were alive. He had to find a way to save Ink...

Yet his little body would not move to even pick up a bone. More tears fell down his face as he could only reach out for Ink, futilely. He was too scared to do anything else...

_***Do YoU tHiNk YoU cAn EsCaPe?! I'lL eRaSe YoU bOtH!**_

The child yelped as he saw Error charging for him. He yelped again as he suddenly felt the wood of a paintbrush in his arms, a streak of rainbow colored goop now between the child and Error.

"Go!" Ink yelled "That will only trip him up. You have to go!"

"But-"

The child turns toward the portal. He knows running is his only chance of not being erased. But how can he just run with Ink like this? More tears fell from his eyesockets.

"I'll be fine. Now go!" Ink urged him.

The child heard Error trip over the goop. As much as he hated to have to run he had no option. If Error got back up and he wasn't gone, he would be erased. He has to go. Find those people Ink mentioned would help him. Then he could go back and save Ink! And then revive his universe!

With those positive thoughts in mind, the child hurried through the portal.

The last thing he heard as all was going white was Ink's weak voice.

_"Take care of yourself...Blueberry..."_


	2. Ch 2: Stress

_**Chapter Two: Stress**_

Blueberry came to his senses again in due time. The first thing he felt was the cold sting of snow pressing against his back, soaking through his shirt and chilling his bones. He must have been unconscious for some time as the exposed bones of his arms were slightly numb. The little guy was grateful that his boots were sturdy enough so that the snow and chilly air did not soak through his socks and chill his feet, lest he'd probably be feeling worse than what he was. As he urged his body to sit itself up, he saw Ink's paintbrush still clutched tightly in his left hand, the other holding his brother's hoodie.

What had happened back there was not a dream. His brother really did die. Alphys, Undyne, Toriel - they really did die too. Ink really did save him from Error. And Ink really was in that other place, possibly dusted...

Blueberry shook his head quickly. He can't be thinking negative now! Ink said people here would help him! If he finds them quickly, he can help Ink fight Error!

"Knock knock!" a voice was heard as the child heard someone knock on a distant door. He turned towards the wooded area behind him, curious.

"Who's there?" came the female's reply.

Sounded like she was speaking through a door. Why couldn't she open the door for her friend? It was cold out here! Surely they must be cold as well! And was it him or did that female kind of sound like the queen of his world? An older, friendly voice, just like the queen's. And the male...his voice oddly reminded Blueberry of his own. Perhaps a few years older though.

"Old lady."

"Old lady who?"

"Heh. I didn't know you could yodel!"

Laughing was heard and then Blueberry huffed, forcing himself up and crossing his arms. What a lame joke. He could come up with a much better one. He was going to find these two jokesters and first tell the old lady to stop being rude and then tell the other guy some REAL jokes. Jokes that were worth laughing at!

He rushed into the snowy forest where he'd heard the sounds coming from. However, before he could even get two steps in, Blueberry yelped as he suddenly felt the warmth of someone else suddenly appearing right in front of him in a strange blue glow.

"A-Ah!" the child yelped, falling into the snow.

The other skeleton merely grinned at him, hands in his blue hoodie's pockets as the glow left. And was he wearing shorts? And slippers? In this weather?!

"Looks like I gave you quite the scare!" he smiled, looking down at the child.

However his smile faded slightly when he saw the paintbrush clutched in the child's hand. He'd seen that paintbrush before though it's only ever been in a holder on Ink's back. What's it doing here then?

"That's not funny!" Blueberry huffed, clutching the things in his hands. "Maybe you should be more careful of where you teleport yourself!"

"That's kind of funny, considering you're the one from an AU who suddenly teleported to this world." the skeleton kept the perpetual, almost smug looking grin on his face as he helped Blueberry up.

"And how do you know about that?!" Blueberry yelped as soon as he got back to his feet, not expecting anybody here to even know about AUs.

"Of course I of all people would know." the older skeleton said cooly, not the least bit even phased".Ya know...keep it between us, but Ink already told me everything about AUs and how Error's ripping 'em apart. And based on the fact you're a skeleton and the only one here who's still alive is my bro, seems to reason you must've come from one of those AUs, right?"

"Ink...talked to you...?"

Blueberry paused a bit, taking this in. He was shocked to say the least. He didn't think Ink went to this place. He didnt expect this other skeleton to be already pretty much expecting him to show up some way or anothet. Everything happenef so quick, so suddenly like a burst of wind. No, more than just a burst of wind - a whole tornado, blowing in at once! He expected everyone here to demand to know his whole story, of which he probably couldn't fully provide, probably be mean to him...

"Yep. And since you've got his paintbrush, guess that means something came up and he needs someone to protect you 'til he can get back to ya, right?"

The child was still frozen with shock. How could someone handle this so...nonchalantly? How did Ink even let this guy know about his arrival if everything that happened happened as a split second decision?!

Unless...this wasn't the first time Ink did something like this..?

Blueberry was aware of a phenominon known as RESETTING. In his world, Temmie RESET many times until the human Chara arrived and overrode that ability. He always remembered every RESET they did but he always kept a cheerful attitude. He always felt that if he remained cheerful maybe, just maybe, the human would do a true pacifist run and never RESET again. No matter how many RESETS happened (he had seriously lost count of them), he beleived in the human. He beleived in them right to the end...right when he felt they were changing for the better..

Maybe other AUs also had RESETS as well! Maybe Ink had taken other AU people here before and managed to save their AU through a RESET? That had to be how the other skeleton came to expect him to show up! Maybe his AU can be saved that way too!

But if this had happened before, had Ink ever been imprisoned by Error?

"What's the matter? _Cat got your toungue?_" the older skeleton interrupted Blueberry's thoughts. "By the way, since I was curious, I did a CHECK on you while you spaced out and I see you're another Sans. Never thought I'd meet another version of myself in person."

Wait a second..._another Sans?!_

Of all the people for him to meet in this new world it had to be someone with his same name?!

"Hey! You might be called Sans too but I am the magnificent one!" Blueberry let his pride talk now. "I bet you can't ever hope to become a member of the Royal Gaurd. And I bet you can't make good tacos either!"

"You're acting like my brother..." the other Sans said, chuckling. " I've got you beat though. I'm the original Sans. You're just from some universe Ink drew up, am I right?"

Blueberry suddenly felt offended and glared. How could he just say that?! Just from some universe Ink drew up?! So his universe meant less?!

"Hey, hey, calm down - I didn't mean it like that!" Sans waved his hands as he backed up, seeing the child's right eye glow more than normal for a second.

Blueberry gasped, seeing the reflection of blue on Sans's skull. His magic was flaring. But why?! He was only annoyed...very annoyed...at Sans's. comment. He didn't intend to cause harm. He didn't WANT to cause harm! If he ever harmed someone for real, he would never forgive himself!

"I...I'm SO SORRY!" Blueberry yelled as he somehow was able to deactivate his magic, tears starting to fall from his eyesockets.

Sans grabbed onto the child's small frame gently, trying to ease up how much he had started just shaking uncontrollably and crying. In all honesty, Sans was confused as to why the little child suddenly had a flare up over a small comment like that. He didn't look to be a particularly short-tempered sort of guy. Quite the opposite, actually. His attire and pride in his abilities reminded Sans of Papyrus. It was as if this were what one would get if by some wierd shift of events he was in Papyrus's role.

Gods, just what sort of AUs did Ink make?

In that moment, it occurred to Sans that the reason his new "friend" had such a sudden flare up was clearly stress. The child looked exhausted - bags were under his eyesockets, tell tale signs of exhaustion in skeleton monsters. Granted, this was another Sans and all of them had bags of some sort, but those bags were even worse than his own. The child's face looked a bit pale as well - he must've been in the cold for way too long. His HP hadn't been the best when he CHECKED him either. Luckily this was a Sans who was not cursed with the whole 1 HP thing but his HP was still drained - a mere 20 out of his 620 or so max.

He contemplated what to do. He couldn't let Papyrus see this guy. If he did, he would probably think that he was some child monster who lost his way and would try and get him home. Which would likely, with Papyrus's big mouth, lead to the whole Underground knowing of his presence. Then Sans would have to attempt to explain this whole AU thing to everyone and the result would probably be a huge panic.

Sans had to take care of this monster on his own.

First and foremost though, the guy needed to eat and restore his HP. There was one place where Sans could trust the people to not freak out or open their beaks about anything said in it. He hoped the little guy liked burgers...

"Your HP is really low, kid." Sans told the child once his sniffles had slowed down a bit. He gently let him go, reaching a hand down to help him back to his feet. "How about I get you some food as an apology?"

"...O-Okay..." the response was shaky, the child wiping a few stray tears away.

"Cool. I know a shortcut." Sans said as his perpetual grin seemed to get wider. "By the way, you have a name, kid?"

"...Blueberry..."

" Blueberry? I'll just call ya Blue for short." Sans told Blueberry. "Now hold on."

With a snap of his fingers, both monsters vanished in a flash of blue...

* * *

_FWOOSH!_

Blueberry held his head as he felt a sudden cold wind across his bones then the warmth of a heated building. He hadn't realized just how cold and tired he was until he felt the warm air blowing from a heating vent above him. He felt like he could just doze off...

...If it wasn't so loud in here! And that smell! It made Blueberry want to gag!

Monsters of various sorts that he didn't recognize were packed into the small tavern. Blueberry noticed the majority of the monsters in here were dogs, with some birds, a rabbit, and even a horse. All of them were yelling at each other whilst eating hamburgers, french fries, hot dogs and sipping juice from various types of fancy glasses. The yelling reminded Blueberry of the atmosphere at Muffet's. At least her place didn't stink!

Still. Both places seemed to not have a single taco in sight and to him, no tacos means a bad establishment.

He noticed Sans was already a bit ahead of him, motioning him to come over to the bar area where...

Wait, was that Grillby?! Since when did he get his own place of business?! All Grillby every did in Blueberry's world was set up random hot dog stands and rip people off! How could he ever run a place of business?!

Sans motioned to him again and Blueberry shook his thoughts away, heading towards the empty barstool beside Sans and slowly climbing up.

_PPPPPHHPPPPHHHTTT!_

Several monsters turned towards the god-awful sound that emitted when Blueberry sat down on the chair. He could practically feel a tinge of blue rush to his cheeks at the attention. Looking behind him, he noticed a whoopie cushion peeking out from behind him, followed by laughter from Sans.

"Sans! Why?!" Blueberry couldn't help but yell, hating to be pranked like this. "Why did you put that there?!"

"I have no idea where that whoopie cushion even came from." Sans shrugged despite still chuckling. "I should've told ya before: watch where you sit inhere. People are always leaving whoopie cushions on the seats."

"Ugh...whatever!" Blueberry huffed, pulling the whoopie cushion out from beneath him and throwing it down onto the floor.

"Hey! Someone's gonna trip on that, you can't have it on the floor now!" Sans said as he got up, picking up the whoopie cushion. "If this were my room I might have just left it but there are people in here. Gotta have some class."

"I don't call putting whoopie cushions on chairs having any "class" either!" Blueberry was still pretty preturbed as he crossed his arms.

"I swear, I have no idea who put that there!" Sans sat back down. "By the way, I went ahead and ordered the food. Hope you like burgers."

Burgers. Blueberry couldn't say he was a fan. However, Sans was being nice so he had better just be glad he's giving him anything. Even though Blueberry would much prefer a taco...

"They're alright." Blueberry replied before letting a sigh escape.

All of this reminded Blueberry of going to Muffet's with his brother. They always sat in this spot at the bar whenever his brother forced him to come to Muffet's with him. Blueberry fondly remembered his feet not able to fully touch the floor and Muffet looming over him, smelly purfume and all, asking for his order. His brother always ordered him a cinnamon bun before Blueberry could answer her. Truth be told, the spider kind of scared him...

Sans was a spitting image of Blueberry's brother. The pranks, the puns, the perpetually relaxed attitude. Blueberry should be happy but he found himself just...not hitting it off so well with Sans. The reminders of his brother made Blueberry remember how he had failed to defend himself against Error, which caused his brother to take an attack meant for him.

How he missed his brother... How he couldn't stand to be dealing with someone who is just like him. His brother would be alive if Blueberry hadn't been so careless!

Blueberry was cut off by a burger being placed in front of him. Sans ordered the same thing as one was in front of him too. Sans held the ketchup bottle to him.

"If you're a Sans, you like ketchup. Don't you?"

Blueberry couldn't help but grin. Next to tacos, ketchup was the best thing to eat. The real best thing to eat was his secret taco recipe - yes, he added ketchup! So good. He remembered keeping some of that new recipe of tacos in his pockets to enjoy later, though he ran out of them awhile back.

"Wowie! How did you know?" the excited monster asked.

"All of us like ketchup. I don't think anyone can be a variant of me without that quirk." Sans said as Blueberry opened his burger, beginning to squirt some ketchup on...

_SPLAT!_

Blueberry froze as the lid to the ketchup suddenly slid right off. A stream of the red condiment flowed onto his burger. Within a second, his burger was practically swimming in it.

"Be careful with the condiment jars here." Sans said with another chuckle. "Sometimes the lids aren't on tight."

Blueberry stared at his burger for a second before getting up from his seat.

"Not just one but two pranks?!" Blueberry yelled. "Can't you stop for five minutes?!"

"None of those pranks were mine!" Sans kept playing a facade. Blueberry though, wasn't having it.

"Oh, so you just didn't notice a whoopie cushion sitting right ahead of your nose?" Blueberry now had his hands on his hips, his eyes glowing angrily again. "Nor did you see a ketchup bottle was half open?!"

"You're yelling again, Blue..."

_"OF COURSE I AM YELLING! YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A TOTAL AND COMPLETE CLOWN, SANS! BY THE WAY, THIS GREASE BUCKET SMELLS LIKE A DOG'S TOILET!"_

The noise on the background suddenly came to a screeching hault as every monster in the tavern turns to face Blueberry, who had slapped his hands on the table, right over Sans's burger. Cheese, pickles, and onion were splattered across the bar. Even Grillby looked up from cleaning glasses.

Blueberry's eyes widened as he took in Sans's expression. The grin he had been wearing since they met wavered a bit, his eyelights showing...hurt? Blueberry couldn't look for long before Sans turned away, grabbing at the stool.

"So that's what you think, huh? This place is just a dog's toilet to you..."

"N-no, no!" Blueberry yelped nervously. "I... It just came out...!"

A suffocating feeling came in Blueberry's chest. Sans was only being nice to him, trying to make him smile. Yet he hurt him! All he did was yell at Sans for trying to make him smile, for trying to make the situation he was in not so dark and dreary.

It reminded Blueberry of the one time he yelled at his brother for making too many puns after Alphys called Blueberry a weenie. He had the same hurt that Sans had in his eyes, yet tried to keep a grin on. Blueberry remembered his brother looking just like Sans. Turned away, grabbing at his stool as Blueberry stood over the bar, having spewn honey across it. Everyone had been staring at him then too. Muffet told him to leave and cool his jets which resulted in Blueberry storming out of the bar and slamming the door.

Blueberry stole a glance at Grillby, expecting him to tell him to leave like Muffet had. However, the fire monster did nothing, having returned to cleaning the glasses.

"I'm sorry...I...I'm leaving." Blueberry said as he turned to the exit.

He stumbled as he turned, his legs suddenly feeling like jello. A headache suddenly made itself known as his head began to throb. A stabbing pain was also felt in his stomach making Blueberry topple over and onto the ground. He could hear the gasps of the monsters around him as he felt the hardwood floor against his cheek, vision slowly fading out.

Come to think of it, it had probably been close to a week since Blueberry had anything to eat. He usually kept tacos in his pockets but with Error attacking his home he hadn't been able to restock them. Being generous, he gave more than a few to monsters who had their homes destroyed by Error or were trapped until further notice. He did not know then that it only hurt him in the end. Those monsters still died and Blueberry had been without a food source. Now that some of the direct threat was not looming over him, Blueberry's starved state must've caught up to him...

Heh, what timing. Part of him hoped Sans just left him. He'd been so rude!

The last thing Blueberry felt before blacking out was himself being swooped from the ground and hearing a faint voice saying "Don't mention anything about this to my brother, Grillbz!'

He felt a rush of wind before his consciousness left...


	3. Ch 3: Ambitions

_**Chapter Three: Ambitions**_

Blueberry wasn't sure how long he had been out for. His head ached, he could barely lift his arms and his vision was blurry. He felt that he was on the soft cushion of...a BARE mattress?! As he struggled to move his legs, Blueberry felt a soft quilted blanket had been put over him. It looked a little dusty, like it were were taken out of a closet that nobody ever used.

As his head throbbed with a creeping headache, Blueberry tried to peice together what had happened to land himself here. It was all such a haze. However, he could remember that Sans had taken him to a tavern full of dogs he didnt recognize. He remembered sitting on a whoopie cushion...picking up some ketchup...

Suddenly, it all came flowing back. How he yelled, the burger spewn across the bar, that look of hurt in Sans's eyelights... He had to apologize right now! He couldn't leave Sans upset in him!

Blueberry jolted up, feeling his skull pound followed by a light-headed feeling. He shook his head a few times to clear it. Luckily, his vision finally came into focus to see his surroundings.

The bed he was in was parked by a window, the snowy trees of Snowdin seen in the background. The outside was about the only thing that even remotely looked tidy in this place! Socks were spewn in a large pile in the corner opposite him, a running treadmill sat sloppily in the middle of the room, a lamp meant for the floor was sitting atop the messy dresser, and was that a tornado of trash in the corner?! How could anyone live like this?!

Well, anyone except his brother that is...

Blueberry glanced at the clock on the nightstand beside him. 4:15PM. A note is also sitting there, written in almost illegile handwriting:

_**my bro made me go back to my patrol. stay here for now.**_

He didn't even capitalize his letters. Just like Blueberry's brother...

Regardless, Blueberry wasn't about to let this messy room just go on. If Sans wanted him to stay here, he would. But he will stay in a CLEAN room! Just looking at the socks spewn carelessly in a corner made Blueberry want to swoop them up and run a washer. However, after checking that he was indeed locked in this room and there was no key to be found in this mess, Blueberry settled for gathering the socks up and putting them in the hamper that was parked by the closet. It was overflowing with dirty shirts, pants and especially socks. Good god how many pairs of unwashed socks did Sans own?!

Blueberry wondered if Sans even kept a single article of clean clothing in the dresser drawers. Seeing one of them half opened though, he reasoned not because what he could see inside were two trumbones and a pile of letters for Santa in a corner.

Sans knew Santa?! Blueberry made a note to ask Sans to tell Santa about his own Christmas wishes when he gets back. AFTER the apology, of course.

A bit excited now to talk about his Christmas wishes, Blueberry began to hum his own battle tune as he continued to tidy up the monstrosity that was Sans the Skeleton's bedroom.

* * *

"You can pester me all you want, Error." Ink sassed for the umpteenth time. "I'm not telling you what I did. Why should I? We both know that the moment I say a word about Blueberry's whereabouts you'll go there and kill him. You never give mercy to my children."

It was truly something else that Ink could still muster up the strength to sass. Why, with being tied up by every part of his body and hanging from the ceiling in Error's Anti-Void, any other monster would likely not have the courage to speak let alone sass at Error. But Error kept a patient, almost amused face. He knew he had the upper hand.

_***YoU dO kNoW mE qUiTe WeLl InK. To Be ExPeCtEd fRoM mY lItTlE bRoThEr...**_

"Don't call me your brother. We might have been created by the same person but after all of the lives you took, the lives of my children, I would NEVER call you brother again." Ink glared.

_***ThE fAuLt iS yOuR oWn, BrOtHeR. YoU wErE wHo StArTeD tHiS - yOu WeRe WhO pIcKeD uP yOuR pAiNtBrUsH aS sOoN aS yOu ReAlIzEd It HaD pOwEr. YoUr FiRsT cReAtIoN eNdEd Up A gLiTcH. Or HaVe YoU aLrEaDy FoRgOtTeN aBoUt GeNo? ThE cHiLd YoU kIlLeD yOuRsElF?! ThE rEaSoN yOuR LV wEnT uP tO tWo?!**_

"Geno was a FAILURE! A MISTAKE!" Ink shouted, his rage rising. Hints of hurt were in his voice, it cracking with tears. "He went mad! I didn't have a choice on what happened to him! I was young then! I didn't know that it was bad to go creating things when I wasn't in the Doodleverse!"

_***He WaS mY fRiEnD - tHe OnLy oNe WhO eVeR vIsItEd Me HeRe! ThE oNlY oNe WhO cArEd! HeCk, ThE oNlY oNe WhO kNeW I sTiLl ExIsTeD bAcK tHeN! BuT yOu DiDn'T tHiNk aBoUt ThAt, DiD yOu? He WaS a GlItCh To YoU, sO hE hAd tO gO! WhO cArEs AbOuT tHe FrIeNdS hE hAd, RiGht?! WhO cArEs AbOuT tHoSe ThAt WoUlD bE bRoKeN wHeN tHeY fOuNd HiM dUsTeD oN tHe FlOoR cOvErEd In RaInBoW pAiNt?!**_

"I didn't know a single thing about the Anti-void then, or that he was going there!" Ink yelled. "I didn't want him to hurt anyone! I didn't want him to go off escaping and hurting our other brothers! I did it to protect them - to protect everyone who was in that lab - from his rage!"

_***YeT iN tHe EnD, aLl YoUr MeDdLiNg DiD wAs HuRt. YoU kIlLeD a MoNsTeR. OuR bRoThErS sUfFeReD tHaT aCcIdEnT. ThEy LoSt ThEiR fAtHeR dUe tO yOu. BeCaMe LoSt OrPhAnS wHo NeArLy DuStEd On ThE sTrEeTs! ThE oLdEr oNe iS sTiLl tRaUmAtIzEd bY iT! AnDd iT's YoUr FaUlT!**_

"It's not! It's NOT!" Ink yelled now, yanking at the cables. His right eye sparked red for a moment. "I didn't know...! I didnt plan on everything else-"

_***To ToP iT aLl OfF, yOu IgNoReD mY wArNiNgS tHaT cOnTiNuInG tO cReAtE bEiNgS tHaT dO nOt BeLoNg wOuLd CoRrUpT tHe TrUe TiMeLiNe AnD yOu CrEaTeD aLl ThEsE aRtIfIcIaL wOrLdS! CoUnTlEsS aRtIfIcIaL sOuLs... GlItChEs... EvErY tImE iNsPiRaTiOn StRuCk YoU, aNoThEr AU aPpEaReD. EvEn WhEn YoUr IdEa WaS hAlF dOnE, yOu StIlL mAdE aN AU! LeFt wHaT wAs UnDoNe FoR tHe InHaBiTaNtS tO fIgUrE oUt. MeAnWhIlE tHe TiMeLiNeS cOnTiNuEd To CoRrupT dUe To YoUr AUs. SoOn pEoPlE iN tHe OriGiNaL woRlD cOuLd RESET. SoOn FoLkS I dIdN't KnOw WeRe ApPeArInG iN tHe AnTi-VoId. SoOn RESET aFtEr RESET wAs GoInG oFf iN yOuR AUs. I cOuLdN't KéE0 tRáÇk õF êM áLl! AnD aLl BeCaUsE oF yOu aNd YoUr InSpIRaTiOn! I hAtE yOu, InK! I wIlL mAkE yOu sUfFeR fOr ThE cHaOs YoU hAvE cAuSeD! I wIlL DESTROY aLl AUS, tHeN DÉẞTRØY yØú...ThÉñ...THÉÑ...!**_

Error's voice buzzed out, his eyes showing many ERROR messages as Ink broke down crying in rainbow tears at his accusations. All of this mess being his fault...over his abilities, his constant inspiration... Even the RESET ability was his fault. He only wanted to create new stories, allow others to live different but happy lives...

It was just a glitchfest in the end...

The ERROR messages clouding Error's eyes faded out at that moment, leaving him shaking and confused a moment before he shook his head, turning his back to Ink.

_***I'm LeAvInG. GoT yOuR gLiTcHeS tO cLeAn Up. If YoU'rE dEcEnT, mAyBe I'lL bE nIcEr ThAn YoU aNd GeT yOu a FrIeNd.**_

Error threw his hand up dismissively as he walked away, opening a portal and going through. Ink was soon left alone to drown in his sorrows and worries.

The RESET ability. Ink thought it was some magic ability determined creatures had. How wrong he was. The ability was a glitch in and of itself. A glitch created by his own endless desire to create, to leave things half-done for others to finish. His refusal to not create when a new idea struck him...

That was all in the past. Recently, Ink has been doing his best to not create many more AUs. Just seeing his cams in the Doodleverse alone was enough to show that he has created way too many. Too many stories were unfolding at once. Too many disasters. Too many RESETS. Just seeing the cams for a second would be enough to make any normal monster's brain want to explode out of their skull. Heck, if Ink was feeling tired enough, he would sometimes get a headache himself from viewing his cams. Yet he would not delete a single AU. Deleting an AU would mean either killing or leaving countless children with nowhere to live. Ink would not accept that.

Yet Ink could not resist inspiration's call either. He remembered reading in an old journal that he was created with the purpose of creating new things and an odd magic known as INSPIRATION. He was sort of a test run of a new concept. If Ink recalled correctly, INSPIRATION was meant to be similar to human DETERMINATION, except INSPIRATION was safe for monsters and humans. However, neither he nor his creator was able to learn much else about INSPIRATION, for the tragic CORE accident had occurred shortly after Ink's creation. Ink had created his first lifeform with his paintbrush - the failure of a lifeform it had been - and the rest was history. Only sheer luck let him discover the Doodleverse, the one place where he could use INSPIRATION to create people and universes that were stable. Why was it that he could only use his INSPIRATION in the Doodleverse? It was a mystery...

Ink sighed, letting his weary eyes close. The cables stung with how tightly they were wrapped around his bones. Error wanted to make sure there was no means for him to escape and so far he had done more than enough. Ink barely had the magic to keep breathing, let alone escape. Now, with fresh reminders of the tragedies of Geno and the CORE and the glitches using his INSPIRATION has caused, Ink could not muster the strength to even tug at the cables anymore let alone break them. A few hot tears dripped down and disappeared before they could hit the empty floor below.

Part of Ink hoped that Blueberry never found him and that he just dusted here, alone...

* * *

"Sans! You have kept me here waiting on you for TWENTY MINUTES!" Papyrus yelled when Sans had finally exited their house. "Did you even change your shirt like you said you were going to or did you use that as another excuse to boondoogle?!"

"No, no, I really did change the shirt, see?" Sans told his brother as he showed him a fresh sweater beneath his hoodie. "It wasn't done drying so I had to wait on it. Must've dozed off again."

"Sans, I am seriously starting to get concerned about your work ethic!" Papyrus went on as the two began to walk out of town. "You're getting lazier and lazier every day, coming up with more and more excuses not to be at your station! First I find you in your room after being gone from for station for hours and then you take twenty more minutes changing a shirt! That's TWO whole hours that nobody was watching the entrance to Snowdin for a human!"

"Hey, hey, "chill" out, bro." Sans had to throw a pun out there. "Besides, a human probably wouldn't have made it far. They would be chilled to the "bone" if they got through the woods, through your puzzles and past town!"

"Sans, this is serious!" Papyrus continued. "I can just feel that today's going to be the day that a human shows up, and I, The Great Papyrus, will be the one to capture them! Then I will be a member of the Royal Gaurd! I will have everyone's respect and bathe in a shower of kisses every morning! And everyone will be my friend!"

"You can just feel it in your bones, huh?" Sans continued to joke, which made Papyrus grit his teeth at the unneeded jokes his brother was spewing. Sans chuckled as he pointed at his brother. "You're smiling!"

"I am and I hate it..." Papyrus sighed. "Anyway, if you're finished with your shirt, get back to your station! I will not miss the human!"

"Okay, okay, I'll get right on it." Sans said honestly this time. "We won't miss the human, I promise."

"Good! Today will be the day, Sans! After today, everyone will call me a Royal Gaurd!" Papyrus said proudly as Sans began to shuffle off towards his station. "Oh, and one more thing..."

"Yeah?"

"Clean up those condiment bottles all over your station!"

* * *

Ten minutes later and Sans had actually gone to his station like his brother asked. The same spot he always ended up at the beginning of every RESET. Ketchup bottles that he spewed there some 380 timelines ago around him, an old jacket he never wore spewn at a worn down stool...he hated his station. He didn't hate it because it was his station, he hated it because it was always where he was whisked to at every RESET. One moment peacefully talking to Papyrus at his car on the surface, the next whisked back to this crickety old station with the barrier back up and the memories erased from everyone's minds but his own. One moment literally dead and free of pain and sorrows with everyone who had been murdered by the human, the next back here and ready for round 289. He wondered what path he would be stuck dealing with this time. Will the child fake kindness and mercy, or will they show their true colors with another genocide route and him failing again to stop them?

Sans shook his head as he flung open the drawer in front of the chair he was seated at. It was supposed to have his puzzle plans in it but Sans no longer saw a point in doing them. The human would either happily do Papyrus's puzzles or the flower would solve them for them. Instead of puzzle plans, Sans's supply drawer was filled with ketchup bottles. He grabbed one out and popped it open, flinging the drawer back closed.

In all 380 RESETS that Sans had lived through, not one had he actually met another Sans. Sure, he knew about them. Ink and Error both visited many times before, during and after the era of Flowey's RESETS. They mentioned AUs, other Sanses, abnormalities in the regular timeline... His own research, research that he quit conducting back during Flowey's RESET Era, proved that the timeline was glitchy, that other people and universes were responsible for these glitches. He didn't even begin to understand who was responsible for some of these glitches until the human had completed their first Genocide Route. The one that resulted in the deletion of the timeline and a forced RESET.

But meeting another Sans in person, a Sans not only from another timeline but from an entirely different universe, was something else entirely. He knew that Blue was another Sans. The looks were just the same,save for the age, eyes and outfit. Yet...the personality reminded him of Papyrus's, though the poor guy was clearly delerious from hunger when they first met. Yet the same basic likes were there: love for ketchup, magic flare-ups when upset...luckily Blue got Papyrus's HP stat and not the standard 1 HP he had. He wanted to get Blue to talk more but his efforts to ease the child only resulted in Blue yelling across Grillby's about dog's toilets and how he was being a clown.

Being a clown. Heh. That was what he's been for 200 RESETS now. He doubted he could be any other way. It was Sans's way of maintaining sanity. He's the only one who remembers, afterall. It's not like he can actually tell anyone the truth. Especially not his little brother. So he hid behind his jokes and like Papyrus, Blue got mad at him.

Perhaps he would have better luck once the kid recovered and was less delerious...

Sans sighed, the ketchup bottle now emptied. His head hurt with all of this thinking. He was ready for a break. He couldn't go to Grillby's. First of all, he still had to apologize to the dogs about Blue up and calling the place a dog's toilet and second, to get to Grillby's he had to go past Papyrus's patrol route which would mean likely running into Papyrus and having him get upset that he wasn't at his station again. Sure, Sans could always shortcut but with how he was feeling right now he wasn't so sure that shortcutting somewhere wouldn't cause him to collapse right then and there after all of the healing magic he'd just used on the kid.

Well, he might as well check on the old lady. With any luck, she'll have a nice joke to tell and the two can tell some fun knock knock jokes together for awhile. He could sure go for a joke session right about now. Tell some bad jokes and ignore his worries. Yeah. That sounded nice...

Sans threw the empty ketchup bottle alongside the others at his station and got up, heading down the wooded path to the old lady's door...

* * *

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

"Hey, I've got some new stuff for ya!" Sans called to the large door as he sat in front of it, back leaned against it. "I wanna go first this time. Knock knock!"

No response. Perhaps the old lady hadn't heard him. He knocked again.

"Knock knock! Are you back there, old lady?"

Again there was no response. Good God...not now. He just talked to her a few hours ago!

"Old laaaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddddyyyyyyyyy!" Sans called at the door.

The only response again was silence. A wind blew, sending dust from somewhere in the ruins out onto Sans's gloved hand. He knew full well where it came from, clutching the dust in a fist.

"Just my luck. The kid is doing another genocide route..." Sans muttered as he picked up his phone, a contact called "Fishface" already highlighted and ready to call.

Genocide Route #281, here we go...


	4. Ch 4: Hope

_**A/N: In response to a Guest Review and to anyone else with concerns about this story following "canon" backstories about Ink and Error: Please be aware that I am not following all "canon" things about Ink and Error. This fiction is my own personal take on them and has my own personal backstory for them included as my own original backstory for them is sorta important to my Undertale Headcanons. Since Ink and Error are technically AU/Fancharacters in and of themselves I decided that I as an author am allowed to take some liberties with how I do their background. I'm by no means meaning to soil the characters for you! No need to worry about being totally confused though!**__** A small spoiler, all of the details about that backstory will be revealed before this fic is finished so I hope you guys enjoy my takes as you enjoy the originals. I will be**_**_ adding this A/N to the beginning warnings of this fic so future readers are not confused. _**

**_ By the way, thank you for_****_ your follows, reviews and favorites as well_****_ as over 500 views to this since this was published! Don't forget to leave a review as this helps me to grow as an author and in my portrayals of characters. This is my first Undertale fic so feedback is very much needed and appreciated._**

_**Anyway, enough babbling from me. Enjoy the next chapter!**_

* * *

_**Chapter Four: Hope**_

Of all the times to do a genocide route, it had to be this one. The one time that things were already going crazy with Blue's appearance the kid had to make it worse by going on another killing spree. After sending warning calls to Undyne and Alphys that by now sounded like he might as well have them on a recording, Sans put his phone away and hid in the trees as the human exited the ruins.

Of course the child strutted around with the same innocent face they had shown for hundreds of timelines. Eyes that always seemed to be perpetually closed, confused expression, yet stifling the occasional giggle as they played with their knife. The dust of the inhabitants of the Ruins soiled their shorts and shoes. Oh how Sans just wanted to tackle them down and kill them right where they stood!

But what good would that do? Sans knew they would just respawn minutes later. This human was no different than Flowey.

Flowey. The one who made Sans quit caring about the future in the first place. That soulless flower had the RESET ability too. As soon as Alphys accepted doing that stupid expiriment with flowers that had been kissed with Asriel's dust, the cursed RESET wheel started its its endless spinning. Sans, as her assistant at the time, told her not to do the expiriment. However she hadn't listened. She thought that her efforts could revive a monster. Let it live on in a flower and maybe make Asgore just a little calmer and more rational about his policies about humans and what to do with the barrier.

Oh it brought Asriel back...just in the worst way possible.

Why did no scientist ever listen to what HE had to say?

It was whatever now. After Flowey's first 100 RESET bombs, Sans no longer saw much of a point in caring about researching RESETS and timeline breaks anyway. Like anybody but him would remember what he would learn once Flowey RESET? Now, with Blue's appearance, part of Sans wanted to pick it up again. Though at this point Sans was much too lazy and unmotivated to actually carry it out...

Better put together the same fake as heck greeting. Not that the human would even laugh at his joke though. Why even try? Well. It was part of the script.

Attaching the whoopie cushion to his gloved hand, Sans walked behind the child. In their first few RESETS Sans used to find it funny how his footsteps scared them. However, now the child showed no reaction. They didn't even stop to look around when they heard his footsteps for the first time.

"Don't you know how to greet a new friend? Come here and shake my hand."

There was no laughter when the whoopie cushion went off either...

As expected the human didn't hide when Papyrus came again upset Sans wasn't at his post. They were discovered and just like every other RESET, Papyrus began his little "heroic future Royal Gaurd Great Papyrus" kick, as Sans liked to call it.

It was all getting so old. So repetitive. Yet there wasn't a livid thing that Sans could do. Nothing he could do but live in these circles of events over and over and still over again.

Yet Sans found a small part of himself digging through his mind for an idea. An idea to make things different. An idea that might make this different than yet another kill, rinse and repeat done by the human. What things had he not tried in these 280 genocide runs? What moves has he made or not made?

280 times and yet nothing had changed. Sans always found his brother's scarf in the snow, always found Undyne's spear in the water, always found Mettaton broken near the elevator to New Home, always let his magic take him over...always was too frail to win...

And even if he did win, who cares, right? That human had infinate RESET points...

The game would go as it always had. The only difference this time would be that Blue would be one more pile of dust on the ground...

* * *

"All done! One clean room!" Blueberry announced as he smiled at his work.

The room was now sparkling clean and tidy for the first time in probably years. Blueberry put the treadmill neatly by the closet, put all the socks in the hamper, made the bed, put the lamp on the floor and even cleaned out the trash tornado (because gods, that plate of speghetti in there was starting to smell!). Now Sans would be able to actually see where everything he needed was without tripping on trash and dirty socks along the way! Now all the room needed was a spray of air freshener for the smell of dirty clothes and rotten speghetti and it would actually be habitable again.

"Blue? You awake in there?"

Blueberry looked over at the door when Sans's voice sounded.

"Yeah, I'm up!"

Blueberry soon heard the key going in the door as the it soon opened, revealing Sans. He looked kind of stressed. Maybe he was still upset at what he'd said. Blueberry frowned as he sat on the bed.

"Sans...about what happened at Grillby's-"

"I know you didn't mean it." Sans put his hand out, stopping Blueberry from saying another word. "Look...I don't even care about that. You weren't all there anyway."

Blueberry frowned nonetheless. Sans's tone said it all. He was still upset and it was probably over how he acted at Grillby's. Who wouldn't be upset about someone who they were just trying to help shouting that their favorite place was nothing but a dog's toilet and that they were just being a clown when they were just trying to make that other person smile? There was probably nothing Blueberry could do to undo what he had done.

Just like he could do nothing to undo how he hurt his brother that day at Muffet's...

"I...cleaned your room while you were gone." Blueberry said after a few minutes, his gaze locked on the floor. "I figured that you must be busy if you can't do it yourself...so..."

"Nah, just too lazy to clean it." Sans shrugged as he plopped down at the office chair that was parked in the closet. "Heh. Dunno what I'm gonna do with a clean room..."

Blueberry sighed. He wished he could just leave. He knew Sans was still upset at him. He hasn't even made a single one of those annoying pranks or puns he's said when they first met. Another person he failed to make happy it seems. Yet at the same time, Blueberry couldn't just leave. Not only did he have nowhere to go but somehow he felt he would upset Sans even more if he left.

"...280 times..."

Blueberry turned when Sans suddenly spoke, looking at him sitting on the office chair staring blankly across from him. His eyelights weren't glowing. Something skeletons only did when they were deeply upset. Dang it...Blueberry really blew it with his temper, didn't he?!

"...280 Genocide Routes."

"Hm?" Blueberry was honestly confused at Sans's words. "Genocide...Routes?"

Sans didn't answer for the longest few minutes. Blueberry returned his gaze to the floor, thinking Sans was just going to ignore him. But to his surprise, Sans did respond after a sigh.

"I have a question for ya, Blue." Sans started. "In your world...is there a human that keeps coming?"

"Oh? You mean Chara?" Blue tilted his head in curiosity.

"Well, sort of. The human here's named Frisk." Sans explained. "Has your Chara ever killed everyone before? You're a Sans, I'm pretty sure you would remember RESETS too."

"Yeah, Chara killed me a few times." Blue nodded. "But they spared me a lot of times too."

"Have you ever had to watch your brother die because of this Chara?"

"N-No...but why would they kill him? Even if they kill me, I always beleive that they would change. Maybe Undyne or Alphys helped them be good!"

Sans sighed at Blueberry's words. The exact same responses Papyrus would've given. Blue was a Sans - a Sans that remembered every RESET, knew everything his human did, yet still beleived in that human. Still beleived that someone would teach them to be a good person. Like a killing machine could be taught anything than what it was programmed for. How could Blue...how could Papyrus always keep faith and mercy for them?! Even more was how could this Sans still have faith and mercy for the human after living through their RESETS and remembering every run?

"Yet you always end up back, in the same space you started, right?" Sans asked Blueberry. "Every RESET. Even after a pacifist route, when they swear to you they won't RESET again, they get bored and you go right back to where you started. How do you do it?!"

How does he do it? Even Blueberry himself didn't have an explaination for it. There was always this part of him that just believed in others no matter what. Always beleived that even the most evil being had some good in them. No matter how many times he died to their knife. No matter how many times a peaceful end got RESET. Every RESET he just went into it thinking that this RESET would be the last. That the human would be good and do it right this time.

"I guess I just stay hopeful."

It was the best answer Blueberry could come up with. Hope. Hope was what kept him going...

"You probably wouldn't say that if you were me." Sans told Blueberry, his eyes still black. "If you knew that everytime that kid did a genocide route or if they just felt like it you would find your brother's scarf in a pile of dust and that kid going off to find their next victim. You always were too late to save him. You could never intervene. Never make it stop. At most you watch it happen..."

Blueberry fell silent a moment. He thought of how he watched his brother take the hit meant for him. Standing over him as he turned to dust. He imagined Chara being in Error's place, doing that same act. What would he do?

The answer was easy. He would beleive in Chara all the same. Just like he plans to spare Error. In spite of the bad things Error has done, he has a reason. Blueberry just knew that. When the time came for him to face Error he will learn those reasons and he will spare Error.

Just like no matter how many times Chara killed him, Blueberry always spared them...

"I would say that no matter what." Blueberry told Sans. "Seeing my brother die countless times would hurt but my hope that one day the human won't RESET anymore is stronger than any sadness. That hope keeps me happy every time I start over."

"... Heh."

Blueberry looked over at Sans seeing that he was...laughing? At first he felt himself getting angry again, upset that Sans might have been joking this whole time. However, he calmed down when Sans continued to speak.

"You really do act like my brother. You both have that "always give mercy" thing." Sans chuckled. "Always give mercy, always be positive...even when things really won't ever be any different. Even when you can remember every single RESET, you still want to believe things will change."

Blueberry nodded eagerly. However his happiness fizzled out when Sans's eyes went black once more.

"You're both fools..."

"Maybe we are." Blueberry admitted. "But how I feel will never change. I don't plan on killing anyone, ever. Not the human. Not Error. Not anyone."

"I always kept my mouth shut to Pap about it but you're a Sans. You've seen every RESET. Yet you beleive the human will change? You believe that they see this whole thing as more than just a game that they can quit or restart whenever they please?! Even after hundreds of reruns of the same thing?! Who else, besides an idiot, can keep that up?! Don't you ever realize that the human doesn't care about us? Why should they? This is a game to them! They can RESET, they can QUIT whenever they like and it won't affect them. We're the only ones who suffer with the effects of whatever game they chose to play! How do you not see that?! How do you not see that nothing about that will ever change?!"

Blueberry could see tears at the edges of Sans's eyesockets. His right eye was sparkling blue, just like his own has.

"You're looking at this all negatively!" Blueberry found himself yelling again. "Maybe this time is the time! Maybe this time the human has changed! You don't know it won't be- "

"I know when I see monster dust flying out of that door that this time ISN'T the time!" Sans yelled back. "That kid is going on another killing spree! They already killed the old lady! Already killed the wild monsters in Snowdin! Would have killed the townspeople too if I didn't go back into town and make them leave! And I know that once I leave here, I'll walk right out of town and find my brother's scarf in the snow for the 281st time!"

"Since when could you predict the future?!" Blueberry got up and stood in the middle of the room, yelling at Sans. "Last I checked all we could do was remember RESETS not see what will happen next on THIS run! Maybe you'd feel better if you looked at things positively for one run! The human can choose to be good at any time! And I beleive yours can too!"

"Alright, fine. I'll prove to you that they won't change!" Sans yelled, frustrated now. He pulled Blueberry up by the arm. "We'll leave town and I bet you we'll find the same scene I found for 280 runs!"

"Fine then! And when we don't see it, maybe you can beleive me and change your thinking for one run!"

...So much for the apology...

* * *

Blueberry felt a rush of wind as Sans telelported them off again. Neither skeleton said a word to the other as Blueberry looked toward the snowy feild. He could barely see anything in the fog. However, he could hear voices...and...sobbing...?

"I'm...sorry...so so sorry!"

"Shh, The Great Papyrus has you now, human. It's okay now!"

Seeing Sans rush ahead, Blueberry followed. Sans was frozen in shock at the scene before them.

There was Papyrus, completely unscathed, hugging little Frisk who for the first time ever was sobbing. Tears were falling down their face. Not the crocodile tears thar they always tried to cry when they tried to spare Sans on his boss battle. Something about these tears felt...different.

"Sans! Look! My idea worked!" Papyrus said proudly when he saw his brother. Thankfully, the fog still hid Blueberry from Papyrus's sight. "They want to change! They don't want to kill anyone else!"

"See...? I told you?" Blueberry said softly, smiling. "This time might just be it for you guys!"

Sans was speechless. Part of him wanted to beleive Blue on the whole "this might be it" deal. However, he still knew that the human had lied many times on being sorry for their mistakes. They"ve ve had a peaceful end and still RESET. Any sorrow they claim to have right now is fake! What's worse is that Papyrus and Blue both can't see that!

"...I...I see." was all Sans could say before Papyrus dragged him off. Blueberry saw Sans motion for him to stay hidden as they took off toward the house again,.Papyrus holding Frisk in one arm proudly.

* * *

Blueberry was forced to stand outside the house when the brothers went inside. Sans still didn't want Papyrus to see him. For what reasons, Blueberry had yet to know but given the situation, he didn't question things. He was afraid of aggrivating Sans again. He could already sense that Sans's magic was unstable. Best not make it worse. Hopefully he won't be made to sit out here for too long.

Waiting wasn't fun for Blueberry. The town was abandoned. The shops were all closed and empty, no people were outside picking up their Christmas gifts or decorating the tree, the library (or libraBy) was dark and empty, even Grillby's was emptied and closed tight. What on earth happened? Where was everyone? Did they flee because of Frisk? Maybe now that they changed the people could come back!

...It was sure cold out here. Blueberry hoped that Sans would be out to get him soon...

"Papyrus...why?! You...you could have gotten KILLED!" Sans shouted across the living room at his brother.

For once, Sans could not be funny and relaxed. He could not just not care about this. Something about this aborted genocide route made him have to say something...

"What did I always tell you? All anyone needs is some guidance from the Great Papyrus to be a good person!" Papyrus said as he put Frisk down onto the couch. They curiously began to look around. "And my method worked!"

"But you didn't KNOW it would've!" Sans argued back as he stood in the entryway to the kitchen. "That human killed other monsters! They would have easily killed you too! Yet you still didn't fight them?! How?!"

How could Papyrus not fight during any of the other 280 genocide routes past? What was it about this one that made the human abort the genocide route?! Why did Papyrus show them mercy despite the dust clearly seen on their shorts?! How could Papyrus not give that human a "dunking on" like they deserve?!

...Even though Frisk would have RESET after getting dunked on, at least it'd been a laugh, if only for a little while!

"I think a better question would be how could YOU hide things from me?!" Papyrus yelled as he turned on the faucet, clearly set on making Frisk some warm speghetti. "You told everyone else to leave, even Grillby, but you didn't even warn me that the human was causing problems!"

"Because I knew if I tried to tell you, you'd have gone right out there and played hero!" Sans yelled back. "I know you, Pap! You ALWAYS want to play hero, even when it isn't in your better intrest! I was just looking out for you!"

"And you still hide things and tell horrible jokes even when it isn't in your better intrest either!" Papyrus countered. "Yet I as your brother wouldn't have hidden something like that from you! Why can't you have some honesty with me, Sans?! Am I that bad of a brother to you?!"

"No! It isn't that at all!" Sans tried to defend himself.

However, Papyrus was already set on his opinion. Perhaps he had finally reached the limit with Sans hiding things from him. Hiding his feelings, hiding what he knows, hiding injuries...hiding them all in a sea of bad jokes and puns. Sans couldn't help it. It was what he knew to do. Making bad jokes was a coping mechanism. He didn't want Papyrus to deal with his problems. He wouldn't understand since unlike Sans, Papyrus didn't remember RESETS. Its less complex to not let Papyrus know.

Yet Sans failed to realize that by hiding things, he is only hurting his brother even worse...

"We're not talking!" Papyrus yelled in his childish way as usual. Closest thing to a hirtful comment that he could give to Sans...or anyone for that matter... He crossed his arms and turned his back to Sans, his THE COOL COOK apron swaying lightly as he did.

Sans looked down. Guess he probably deserved this. He screwed up and he knew it. It is funny how it took 280 tries for Papyrus to get to this reaction. Guess it had to happen sometime, right?

"...I'm going to my room..."

"Don't expect me to remind you about the speghetti either!" Papyrus yelled as Sans took off to his room.

Frisk looked over as Sans shuflled into his room and slammed the door, the door clicking locked. Frisk didn't even see that poor Blueberry eould be spending the night in the cold, abandoned city...


	5. Ch 5: Merciless Controller

_**Chapter Five: Merciless Controller**_

Unbeknownst to Sans and Papyrus, Blueberry watched the entire argument unfold from the window. It wasn't like he had anything better to do or anyone to talk to, afterall. He was shocked to see the brothers yelling in the kitchen and Papyrus slamming a serving spoon into the sink as he turned his back. It reminded him of an argument he had with his own brother about cooking tacos. Usually his brother was relaxed about the topic. However there had been one time that Blueberry left the stove on HIGH for too long and caused his taco sauce to splatter and make a mess of the stove - it had also stunk to high heavens too on account Blueberry burned the pot. His brother was livid! He exploded on Blueberry, yelling about how he was tired of cleaning "Failed Taco Expiriments by Sans the Skeleton" and that he had no business in the kitchen. Blueberry was highly offended and proceeded to go off about how his brother has no business sitting up in the living room smoking and that he was tired of picking up "nasty cigarette butts left by Papyrus the Lazypants" from the floor. They didn't talk for an entire day after that. Even worse was that this had been during a Pacifist Route, so Chara had come over for dinner. Instead of dinner, they got to witness the siblings yelling for a whole twenty minutes before his brother slammed his room door and Blueberry was angrily scraping ruined taco sauce into the trash.

Seeing Frisk look over at the kitchen with a baffled expression as Sans hollered at his brother made Blueberry wonder if something went wrong in the kitchen and Sans was mad about it. Maybe Sans was like Blueberry's brother and had to clean any messes Papyrus left in the kitchen? It sure seemed based on how quickly Papyrus ran to the kitchen that he was just as enthusiastic about cooking as Blueberry was. Maybe they could share tips?!

...If Sans ever lets them meet...

A rush of cold air came across Blueberry's bones, causing him to shiver. The sun was starting to set now. Sans must've been too irritated to bother to let him back in. Kind of made Blueberry remember how he had been so upset that day he and his brother argued that he didn't let their dog in for the entire night.

The only thing was that unlike a dog, Blueberry had little to keep warm with other than his already cold armor and bandana. His clothes were still wet from laying in the snow earlier and were now just making him colder. He stifled a cough as he looked in the window, seeing Papyrus coming out of the kitchen with a pot. Frisk looked up eagerly. He could see Papyrus talking gently to the human before scooping up some speghetti from the pot and putting it on a plate, handing it to Frisk afterwards.

That was all Blueberry could see before feeling a harsh kick to the head. Due to cold and likely being sick as a result, his vision immediately began to blur as he caught a glimpse of his assiliant.

_***DiD yOu ThInK I wOuLd Be DuMb EnOuGh To StAy AwAy jUsT bEcAuSe tHiS iS tHe OrIgINaL tImElInE? ThErE's No OnE tO sEe Me. I tHaNk tHaT sPiNeLeSs ChIlD fOr ThAt. I'm GoInG tO tAkE yOu OuT bEfOrE yOu mEsS tHiNgS uP fUrThEr...**_

"Mess things up?! What...are you even...?" Blueberry asked weakly. He could feel cables coiling around his arms and legs. Somehow they felt even colder than the winter air.

Error pulled Blueberry harshly away from the house. Best not alert the other one of Blueberry's existance.

_***YoU aLrEaDy RuInEd ThIs TiMeLiNe. AmAziNg. I dIdN't ThInK aNy GlItCh cOuLd Do sIgNiFiCaNt DaMaGe In HoUrS. YoU rEaLlY aRe a SaNs, ArEn'T yOu?**_

"How have I ruined things?" Blueberry choked through his sheer pain and fear. "What happened due to me...?"

_***YoU'vE tRiGgErEd EvEnTs To HaPpEn ThAt ShOuLd NoT. SoMeThInG aBoUt YoU...I sEnSe hAs ChAnGeD tHe WaY OrIgINaL SaNs Is TaKiNg ThIs RuN...**_

"That had to be Frisk's doing! N-not mine..?"

Blueberry trailed off. He suddenly couldn't find his voice. His throat just tightened up at any attempts to speak. Flashbacks of Grillby's and the conversation in Sans's room flashed through his mind. Did those things cause an unexpected change?

"...Right...?"

_***NoRmAlLy, SaNs WoUlD hAvE tAkEn ThInGs WiThOuT a WoRd. He CeRtAiNlY wOuLd NoT hAvE cAuSeD a ScEnE lIkE tHaT. YoU bEiNg So MuCh LiKe HiS brOtHeR MuSt hAvE SoMeThInG **__**tO dO wItH it.**_

Just like Sans's brother huh? Blueberry was told as much. And Sans himself was just like his own brother. Did that have to do with how Ink made his universe?

_***I'm NoT gOiNg tO jUsT lEt tHiS kEeP oN. ThIs iS sUpPoSeD tO bE tHe pErFeCt tImElInE. I wOn'T hAvE a lItTlE gLiTcH rUiN iT. If I rEmOvE yOu nOw, tHe dAmAgEs sHoUlD bE mInImAl. ThEy wIlL mAkE uP aNd eVeRyThINg wILl pLaY aS a NoRmAl NeuTrAl RoUtE. ThE hUmAn wOn'T bE sAtIsFiEd. ThEy'Ll RESET lIkE a gOoD hUmAn yEt aGaIn.**_

Blueberry's eyes widened at Error's words.

"So you want these RESETS to continue?!"

_***Of cOuRsE. AnD tHeY wIlL aS lOnG aS tHe hUmAn kEePs gEtTiNg tHe sAmE rEsUlTs. ThEy hOpE tOo mUcH tHaT sOmEtHiNg nEw cAn hApPeN. As lOnG aS tHaT nEvEr hApPeNs, tHe cYcLe wIlL cOnTiNuE. ThEy'Re tOo DETERMINED nOt tO kEeP RESETTING.**_

"But what about everyone else?!" Blueberry demanded as he struggled in the cables now. "What about Sans?! He remembers every RESET doesn't he?!"

_***SaNs? CoUlDn'T cArE lEsS aBoUt tHaT pIlE oF bOnEs. He iS wHy tHiNgS eVeN aRe lIkE tHiS. WiSh a RESET cOuLd mAkE iT sO hE nEvEr eXiStEd - tHeN mAyBe mY eXiStAnCe wOuLd'Ve bEeN a bEtTeR oNe. MaYbE I'd sTiLl bE cApAbLe oF cArInG...mAyBe...**_

"What do you mean be capable of caring?!" Blueberry demanded answers. "What does Sans have to do with your existance anyway?! You aren't from an AU like I am are you?!"

_***I'm gOiNg tO kIlL yOu nOw, sO I wIlL aT lEaSt eDuCaTe yOu...I sUpPoSe. **_

Error tightened the grip of his cables. Blueberry coughed against the strain. Seemed Error wanted to make sure he wasn't going to take this chance to run. Either way, Blueberry had no intention to do so. He wanted to understand Error's reasonings for acting how he was. Could he truly not help it?

_***I aM nOt fRoM aN AU. ThIs iS tEcHnIcAlLy mY hOmE. ThOuGh I'd hArDlY cAlL iT tHaT nOw. It'S bEeN yEaRs uPoN yEaRs sInCe I'vE bEeN hErE. It'S nOt lIkE aNyOnE wOuLd rEcOgNiZe mE. ThE oNlY oNe wHo dId...tHe oNe wHo cReAtEd mE...**_

Blueberry could see error messages clouding Error's eyes again.

***#.D. 64$73R...**

The name came out as glitches. Somehow Blueberry didn't think these glitches were natural ones Error made either. It was as if some other entity didn't want anyone to distinguish the name. Like the name wasn't supposed to exist anymore...

_***...wAs wRiTtEn oUt oF tHe tImElInE lOnG aGo. OnE tHiNg tHaT iDiOt InK hElPeD dO rIgHt. JuSt wIsH iT hAdN't hApPeNeD iN fRoNt oF hIs sOnS. MaY nOt lIkE SaNs bUt nO oNe dEsErVeS tO eNd uP aLoNe. GoOd tHiNg tHeY fOuNd AsGoRe aNd GrIlLbY...**_

"So there is some good in you...you don't fully hate Sans, do you?" Blueberry picked up on the hint of positivity.

_***He iS tEcHnIcAlLy fAmIlY. FaMiLy bY aRtIfIcIaL cReAtIoN bUt sTilL fAmIlY. I'lL gLaDlY cOnTiNuE tO tOrMeNt hIm wItH RESETS. BuT kIlL hIm? I'm nOt tHaT lOw. UnLiKe mY cReAtOr I wOn'T jUsT eXtErMiNaTe mY fAmiLy...ArTiFiCiAl oR nOt...bEcAuSe tHeY dIdN't tUrN oUt hOw I wAnTeD. ThOuGh iF gIvEn tHe cHaNcE I'd gLaDlY RESET tHiNgS tO tHe bEgInNiNg sO wHo wAs fAmIlY cOuLd bE dIfFeReNt. MaYbE iF I wAs gIvEn tHe mAgIc oF a MoRe sTaBlE mOnStEr iNsTeAd oF hIs...I mIgHt hAvE bEeN dIfFeReNt...**_

"You're an artificial lifeform too...yet you want to kill all of the artificial lifeforms Ink made in the AUs..." Blueberry glared at Error. "You're a wierdo! Who does that?"

_***RePhRaSe: GLITCHES. YoU hAvE nO iDeA oF tHe cOnsEqUeNcEs oF yOuR eXiStAnCe, dO yOu?! EvErY AU InK aDdS jUsT clOgS aNd sTrAiNs tHe wHoLe mUlTiVeRsE. EvErY oNe oF yOu GlItChEs tHaT aPpEaRs mEaNs mOrE iNsTaBiLiTy oN nOt oNlY hIs DoOdLeVeRsE bUt tHe AnTi-VoId aS wElL. AlWaYs wArNeD InK tO qUiT mAkInG tHeM. If yOu wAnT tO bLaMe sOmEoNe fOr wHaT's aBoUt tO hApPeN tO yOu, lItTlE gLiTcH, bLaMe InK fOr iGnOrInG mE aNd dRiViNg tHiNgS tO tHiS.**_

Before Blueberry could get another word out, the cables around his bones tightened. He could barely breathe let alone get any more words out. So this was it, huh? This was how the Magnificant Sans was going to dust. Never to prove to Alphys he isn't a weenie. Never to prove to his brother that his days of work to be in the Royal Gaurd were not a waste. Never to truly apologize to Sans or to make him happy...

_***AnYwAy, wHiLe tHiS hAs bEeN a nIcE cHaT, I rEaLlY mUsT gEt bAcK. InK iS pRoBaBlY bUsTiNg a gAsKeT iN hIs pRiSiOn. AnD I dId sAy I mIgHt bRiNg hIm a fRiEnD...**_

Error summoned a sharp looking red bone. Blueberry struggled to summon his own bones but the cables were draining his energy. He couldn't even summon a Blue Attack and he could forger trying to get a Gaster Blaster out here.

_***I'lL mAkE tHiS qUiCk. I hOpE yOu'Re eXcItEd tO sEe yOur bRoThEr!**_

Blueberry heard a loud fwooshing sound as he braced for impact, expecting his last bit of HP to be drained in this blow...

"Blue!"

Blueberry heard splattering. He almost screamed at the scene before him.

There, with a bone through his chest, was Sans. He must have heard the yelling and came to check on Blueberry. Blueberry, however, couldn't make a sound. Any attempt to speak just came out as a squeak. His SOUL was pounding in his chest, his hands were shaking.

...Once again someone else took a hit intended for him.

...Once again, someone else was dusting when it should have been him.

...Once again, he could do nothing to stop it!

_***ThIs...wAs uNeXpEcTeD, I'lL gIvE iT tHaT. NoW I'm gOiNg tO rEaLlY hAvE tO mAkE sUrE tHaT cHiLd RESETS. CaN't hAvE yOu sTaYiNg dUsTeD fOrEvEr, bRoThEr!**_

"Brother...?" Sans got out. "What...are you even talking about? We...haven't even met!"

Blueberry could see blood dripping from Sans's mouth.

Wait. Monsters weren't supposed to bleed, right? They didn't have blood. They ran on magic only. Magic that turned to dust when they died. Then what is that stuff? It's too dark to be ketchup. Too red to be barbeque sauce. Something told Blueberry that it wasn't sauce. It was life liquid. But what?

Error faked a hurt expression as he stood in front of them. In midst of the failed killing of Blueberry, the cables around Blueberry had loosened, though only slightly. Blueberry still couldn't escape its grip if he tried. Not that he would with Sans wounded. He wouldn't leave unless Sans could leave as well.

_***I cAn'T bElIeVe yOu fOrGoT aBoUt lItTlE oLd mE, SaNs. YoUr oWn bRoThEr. ArTiFiCiAl, yEs, bUt sTiLl yOuR bRoThEr. WhY sHoUlD I bE sUrPrIsEd? MaNy fOrGoT mE. I aM a mIsTaKe. I aM ERROR.**_

A flashblack of Sans's time in Alphys's True Lab went through his mind at that moment. All those books. Books that were supposedly her research, yet the titles were not in her handwriting. Alphys came up with the explainatiin that someone else must've written the journal entries for her or that they were her mother's research or something like that. Sans knew that these were just fantastical explainations used to cover the fact that Alphys didn't know who did the research. She was a terrible liar.

Sans nosed around in those books. Less often since the RESETS, granted, but still even now, fairly often. He remembered a certain file wedged in these books. A file simply named ERROR.

_An artificial attempt at replicating 5A-NS's ability to contain and safely use not only DT, but PT and JS magic. Unfourtunately, the lifeform's magical signature was unstable. It has been dubbed a failure. Until I can dispose of it, it will remain in containment._

Sans fondly remembered reading that passage before feeling the file get swiped away and not by Alphys either. Heck of a time it was for the king to come and find them unannounced. Asgore claimed that he happened to push the wrong button on the elevator but for some reason, Sans felt like he purposely came.

The king was not pleased to see that file. He ordered Alphys down there and demanded an immediate inspection of the area. That was when he found out...about them...

After that day, Alphys told Sans that he wasn't welcome at the CORE and if he needed to contact her that he should call. If a face to face chat was needed, Sans was to have Alphys come to him not vice versa. He fondly remembered Alphys adding rather angrily onto that: "NO shortcuts either!".

Didn't stop Sans from coming when Alphys was asleep but it did stop the two from talking on a friend to friend basis for several months. Recently Alphys gave in and allowed Sans to do small things with her like help with Mattaton or watch a season of anime with her (which Sans either slept or joked the whole time during) but their friendship never fully mended since then...

The person standing before them now was the very failed creation that wacky file was talking about...

...But a brother...?

Sans's parents were dead. At least that was what hazy memories told him.

All of this was too confusing. It made Sans's skull hurt even more than it was already hurting due to the loss of his natural DT. DT. That was what the liquid was called, Sans remembered. Someone told him that...some...time back...

"Sans!" Blueberry yelled, seeing the skeleton slump, his eyes closed. "Classic Me! SANS!"

_***HoW dOeS iT fEeL tO bE pOwErLeSs? To bE uNaBlE tO dO aNyThInG eXcEpT wAtCh aS yEt aNoThEr pErSoN dIeS jUsT tO dElAy yOuR dEaTh a fEw sEcOnDs mOrE? HoW dOeS iT fEeL kNoWiNg yOu aRe nOt tHe oNe iN cOnTrOl? AnD tHaT yOu NEVER WERE?**_

Blueberry could see Error's eyes flashing red and yellow as he laughed unontrollably at their suffering. Laughed uncontrollably at their pain, their despair. What good person did this?! What reason was there for this?! What was the motive?!

These questioned screamed in Blueberry's head, pounding through his skull. Yet he had no answer. Not even an inkling. Nothing. The questions screamed louder, demanding that answer as hot tears and DT stained his clothes. Demanded an answer Blueberry just could not give...

That was because there was no answer.

There was no reason for this. No good motive. The only motive here was personal amusement. Error killed his friends, killed his brother, erased his while universe, hurt Ink just for amusement. And now here he was...having mortally wounded Sans. For what?! Personal amusement?!

_SNAP!_

Blueberry broke free of the cables, the blue wires flying as a blaster materialized above him, right eye sparkling an intense blue.

"I always try to find the good inside people...I swore to myself I would spare you...be merciful..." Blueberry started. "But I now know...killkng you would be merciful!"

Closing his fist, Blueberry let his blaster fire. He thought that would be Error's last stand but when the blast cleared, he saw Error was still there, unscathed.

_***HeHeHeH...hOw cUtE. DoN't yOu kNoW yOu cAn'T hIt a gLiTcH?**_

With a crazed grin, Error dashed at Blueberry, holding a red colored bone, eyes flashing with that same heartless yellow and red glow.

Blueberry's own eye glowed more intensely to a point that it lit the area around him blue. Gone was the loving and nieve child he had been before. Now something new was alight in his SOUL, something burning brightly, urging him to fight on.

Was this DETERMINATION?

Bones flew from the ground as Error dashed at Blueberry. He easily jumps over them as more bones get tossed into the air. Those just glitch on through Error, said glitch giggling as they did.

Sharp red bones flew at Blueberry. Shaking, Blueberry closed his eyes as he pictured himself avoiding the bones. Like magic, he teleported, reappearing when the bones had finished their onslaught on the ground below, miraculously missing Sans.

"Blue..." Sans's eyes widened on seeing the scene before him. "He...really is a Sans..."

However, what Blueberry didn't plan on was for Error to follow up his attack with his own black colored blaster attack. Blueberry struggled to teleport once more. However this time his attempt failed...

Right. He was too drained. He was not only still recovering from starvation, but being wrapped in those cables has fizzled Blueberry's HP to a fraction. Determined or not, without the HP Blueberry was useless...

Blueberry's eyes widened as his world went white. The last thing he heard was Sans calling out his name...


	6. Ch 6: Confusion Important AN

_**IMPORTANT A/N AT THE BOTTOM, PLEASE READ!**_

* * *

**_Chapter Six: Confusion_**

**_"_**_...up..."_

_"...ke up...!"_

_"WAKE UP!"_

"Ah!"

Blueberry bolted awake at the sudden scream. He attempted to move but his body was back in the restraints of Error's cables. Even if it weren't, his head throbbed too much from the magic he had used before for him to even think about moving.

The first thing that came to Blueberry's mind was Sans. Where was he?! Was he alive?! He knew that Sans was frail. That wound could have very well dusted him...

"Blueberry..."

Blueberry turned to the voice, seeing Ink beside him, ensnared in the same cables he was. Ink looked...different than when he saw him before. His eyes no longer had the expressive shapes and colors they had before. They were just neutral, white colored. Blueberry could see tearstains on Ink's cheeks but no emotion at all in his expression.

"Ink?!"

For a moment, the little skeleton forgot about the cables he was in and tried reaching a hand towards Ink. Bad idea. No sooner could Blueberry put his hand out, his SOUL felt as if a knife were stabbing it and his head throbbed. His arm soon began to shake before he had to drop it back to his side.

"Don't try to move." Ink advised, his eyes averting Blueberry's concerned gaze. "All it will do is make your SOUL hurt worse. A mortal like you might even get dusted by them. I am sorry that I could not stop Error from dooming you in the end..."

"Dooming?!" Blueberry didn't want to hear or beleive those words. "How do you know that I'm doomed?! You don't-"

Blueberry stopped midsentence as memories of the fight that resulted in him being here poured back into mind:

_Death would be Mercy to you..._

_YoU cAn'T hIt a gLiTcH!_

Closing his eyes, teleporting when he wasn't fully sure how he did...

The bones flying everywhere...

The liquid leaking from Sans...

In the back of his mind, Blueberry knew that Ink's statement was right - he was doomed. He and Ink both were at Error's mercy. He already knew that Error had no mercy. Beyond talking to. Just a careless glitch. The very thought hurt Blueberry's SOUL worse than even the cables. Up until now he had always beleived that he could find good in everyone, that no one was ever truly evil, that people just make bad choices and with friends they can change.

Today he learned that his old philosophies were wrong. Sometimes, the only good mercy for some is death. That was Error's case. There was no bringing him to light - the only light he could be brought to was the afterlife.

Yet, Blueberry wondered. Why? Who changed Error? Who made him feel this way?

He sighed. He likely will never know.

"I'm sorry I got you into this..." Ink said after a moment. "I thought I could save you. I didn't think Error would even mess with Classic. He loves that timeline..."

"It's okay, Ink! It's not your fault!" Blueberry's instincts urged him to attempt to cheer Ink up. "You were only trying to protect me. And I'm really grateful for that, honest!"

"It was for nothing in the end ..." Ink frowned. "At least you will see your brother."

Blueberry looked down. Yes. If he did get dusted he would see his dear brother. However, he didn't feel excited to meet him. Something told him that even his lazy, smoking brother would be disappointed in him if he were to dust now. There was more he could do. He could make this situation better.

But what was he supposed to do?

"Where's Sans?" Blueberry found himself asking. Surely the multiverse creator would know.

Ink closed his eyes. He didn't know how to put what he was about to say. He knew what happened to Sans. He had seen a glimpse of it when Error tied Blueberry up here.

"Sans...is alive, I can say that much." Ink said. "As for where he is, I can't tell. Even if I wasn't like this, I was never able to track the SOULS of those I didn't create myself."

Blueberry frowned. He felt tears forming in the corners of his eyesockets. For the first time, the Magnificent Sans was feeling helpless. Helpless and worried to death about Sans. What was Error even doing?! There was no telling. Whar's worse is he was tied up here, unable to do a thing to help. Error was probably tourturing Sans!

"I want to do something! There has to be something, anything, we can do!" the stressed skeleton shouted, eyes shut tightly as if screaming hard and loud enough would grant him an answer.

"I wish there was, Blueberry...really." Ink said, grey eyes sparking a bit in the white void. "But there isn't. This is Error's realm. Classic is his timeline. That...was the agreement of the truce..."

"What kind of agreement was that?!" Blueberry yelled, upset.

"Error wanted to control something." Ink said. "And in all technicality, Classic isn't even an AU. I have no right to meddle around in it. So, in exchange for Error to quit messing with my creations, I agreed to leave Classic be his universe to control."

"So...you put me there, knowing it was his universe to control?!"

Ink looked down. It hurt to admit his mistake. The mistake he knew he had made the moment he put Blueberry into the Classic timeline. Tears fell down his face once more, fading to nothing before they could hit the blank floor.

"I did." Ink finally up and said it. "He has never gone into that world directly. All he does there is keep the child RESETTING. He never kills anyone from Classic directly. He has always beleived that Classic had the perfect story, afterall. It wouldn't be the same if he personally took someone out of the picture, right? I didn't think he would ever come there and see you. I thought you'd be safe..."

"But you knew, Ink...you knew that was...his story to control, right?" Blueberry asked, tears in his eyes. The poor little skeleton felt upset. Angry, betrayed...alone.

"You KNEW Classic was at Error's mercy. You AGREED to it! Yet you still sent me there! Right into danger! And now Sans is in it too!"

Blueberry's eyes were shut tightly as he said this, tears falling down his face and sliding down his cheekbones. He just couldn't beleive it. Ink had shoved him facefirst into danger. Made him beleive he was safe when he knew that it was anything but a safe situation. How could he do that?! Blueberry trusted him!

It took some time for Ink to respond.

"I know what this looks like, Blueberry." he said. "But please, beleive me when I say I did not want to put you in danger on purpose. You're my creation. I love all of my creations as infinate as they are. I would never purposely send one into danger. Truly, I thought Error would never change the story of Classic himself by going in there. With the circumstances, putting you into Classic was the best chance of your safety."

Blueberry calmed but only a little. He was still hurt that Ink hadn't told him everything. However, he also knew that Ink was really just trying to give Blueberry the best chance of survivial. Had Ink placed him in a random AU, Error would just attack it directly, right? Attack it, kill everyone in it...

Cause another Sans to lose his brother...

"Alright. I understand, Ink...I'm not mad at you...it's just..." Blueberry felt more tears coming. "I didn't want it to end like this!"

"I didn't think Error would ever take things this far." Ink admitted. "Maybe he's getting bored too. With us stuck like this, there's no telling how this story is going to end up. But now that he has Classic Sans, the outcome can't be good..."

* * *

"SANS!" Papyrus's angry voice sounded as he kicked open the door to the house. "Sans, it is MIDNIGHT! Stop boondoggling around out here and get to bed! You'll get sick if you don't and I don't want to babysit-"

Papyrus stopped midway through losing his noodle, seeing that his brother was not on the porch. The first place he glanced towards was Grillby's. He could usually always see his brother's blue hoodie through the glass walls of the place when he was there. However, all of the lights in the resteraunt were off, the normally crowded tables empty and chairs pushed in nicely. The CLOSED sign on the door swayed a bit in the silent, icy winds.

"...Sans...?"

The second thing Papyrus saw was the damage to the side of the house. Sans's mailbox was charred and knocked over, the junk mail in it spewn through the snow, most envelopes either burnt or soaked. His own mailbox was barely standing, hanging sideways. He'll have to reattach it tomorrow. As well as paint the house! There was a huge char mark on the side! How on earth did no one notice?!

But seeing all this made Papyrus worry. Yes, he was mad at his brother. But all of this damage set alarms off in the skeleton's brain. There was a fight here and an intense one. The char marks were no doubt made by Gaster Blasters. That meant Sans had actually faught - and Papyrus knew that his lazy brother would never fight unless the situation were dire.

He had to gather up the human and let Undyne know immediately! She would know what to do!

Rushing inside, Papyrus almost ran right into Frisk, who had wandered downstairs after seeing that Papyrus was no longer on the couch with them. The red blanket they had been wrapped in was trailing behind them as they looked at Papyrus with a confused expression.

"Human!" Papyrus yelped in shock. "The Great Papyrus did not expect you to be awake so soon! Is something troubling you?"

Frisk was always a mute. They had been this way since they were born. Never said one word, no matter how hard their parents tried every day to get them to speak. They'd been taken to the doctor and found that their vocal cords were perfectly healthy and that Frisk would speak when they were ready. However, here they sat at 8 years of age and had still not spoken a word.

Frisk looked towards the window quizzically, tilting their head as if to ask 'what happened?'

"That is what we are going to find out! I'm calling Undyne right this minute!" Papyrus yelled as he rushed past Frisk and towards the phone.

Undyne would not be happy to get a call at nearly 1 o'clock in the morning...

* * *

_**A/N: **_

_**Okay. Okay... I know. It has been 4 months without an update and I bet everyone is tossing tomatoes and ketchup bottles at me. Before you readers give me a bad time, please allow me to explain.**_

_**These past few months have...not been exactly easy when it comes to writing. A long story short, after the holidays simmered down and I could begin on this chapter things began getting intense here. My father had been ill and it had required trips back and forth to the hospital throughout the end of January and Febuary. With me spending most time either helping with him or sleeping, I could not even write. He ultimately passed away and it hasn't been until now that I could get done with the grieving part of things enough to even churn out this chapter. For letting my readers hang, I am sincerely sorry.**_

_**In midst of all of that, I have decided to revamp this fanfiction as during my free time I did get, I have been able to RP out my concepts a bit via 1x1s as well as learn more about Undertale AUs and form more headcanons with that knowledge. As such, I now have a firmer idea of how I would like this to go and how I would like to present this little "AU" of Undertale and its multiverse to you. **_

_**First of all, I do want to state that this series will be two, possibly three books long. I am not sure of how many chapters a book solidly, but each chapter should be my usual: around 2-3k words of content. Whilst Blueberry and his adventure will be a prime focus as origibally planned, there may be mentions of other AUs in the story as well. All expected warnings will be covered on the first page of the rewrite. **_

_**The rewrite is scheduled to be released within the next two or three days and I wlll be editing the chapters in which I have already written (up until this one). Due to that I should be able to keep updates at a solid 1-3 days per, but then going to once a week after I have to write everything from scratch, which is a chore to do on mobile. **_

**_I want to thank everyone for the reviews and the faves and follows. It truly makes me happy that this random little concept bunny I got os being read and enjoyed._****_ I do hope that you look forward to a rewrite with a clearer purpose and more frequent updates and that you will continue to review, follow and favorite it when it comes out._**

**_Until then, happy reading!_**

**_-Icee The Hedgehog_**


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